This invention relates generallY to machines operable to process waste materials, such as sewage sludge, for proper disposal thereof, and, more particularly, to an apparatus for mixing such waste material with an inert medium, such as soil, prior to disposition of the combined material.
Regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permit waste material such as sewage sludge to be disposed in the ground if the sludge material is properly mixed with soil prior to being deposited in the ground. The waste material must be uniformly mixed with the otherwise inert soil material in a prescribed ratio, such as three parts soil to each part of sludge material. After being mixed, the combined material can be stockpiled or returned to the ground at a permissible location and time.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a machine that would receive supplies of such waste material and of the otherwise inert soil material and effect a mixing of the two materials in a uniform manner that will satisfy rules and regulations relating to the disposition of the waste material. Any such machine will have to properly handle sludge material, as well as wet soil, both of which can have a high moisture content and a high cohesiveness property that will inhibit movement of the material, as well as the mixing thereof.